NHTSA Complaint #10231030 — 2005 MAZDA MAZDA6

I PURCHASED A NEW MAZDA 6 AND IT CAME FROM THE FACTORY WITH MICHELIN TIRES. THE PROBLEM WAS IMMEDIATE WITH A SEVERE ROUGH RIDE WHEN THE TIRES WERE COOL THUS CAUSING STEERING PROBLEMS. I RARELY DRIVE THIS VEHICLE (7,000 MILES PER YEAR) AND WAS SHOCKED TO FIND SIDEWALL BULDGES AND TIRE SEPARATION ON THE RIGHT REAR TIRE. A FEW WEEKS LATER, I NOTICED THE LEFT FRONT TIRE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. SINCE DAY ONE, ALL 4 OF THE TIRES WOULDN'T HOLD THEIR TIRE PRESSURE (EVEN WITH NO LEAKS) WHICH COULDN'T BE FIGURED OUT BY "PROFESSIONALS." I RETURNED MY CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE THEY TOLD ME TO IMMEDIATELY GET MY CAR INTO A MICHELIN TIRE CENTER. I WAS TOLD THAT THE DAMAGE HAD BEEN CAUSED BY A LOW SPEED IMPACT AND A GASH IN THE TIRES AND WOULD HAVE TO BUY 4 NEW TIRES ($190 PER TIRE). THIS WAS DEFINITELY NOT CAUSED BY AN IMPACT OR A GASH SO I TOOK THE CAR TO ANOTHER MICHELIN CENTER. THEY TOLD ME THIS TIME THAT IT WAS CAUSED BY HIGH SPEED IMPACT BUT THAT THERE WAS NO GASH AND I WOULD HAVE TO BUY THEIR TIRES ($199.42 PER TIRE). FINDING THEIR STORIES NOT MATCHING UP, I TOOK IT TO A THIRD MICHELIN CENTER. THEY TOLD ME THAT IT WAS CAUSED BY HITTING A CURB! THE EMPLOYEE THEN TOLD ME THAT IT WAS HIGHLY UNLIKELY THAT THE TWO BULGED TIRES ON EITHER SIDE COULD HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY HITTING A CURB OR HIGH/LOW SPEEN IMPACT AFTER AN INSPECTION. HE RECOMMENDED A DIFFERENT TIRE, NOT A MICHELIN. I ENDED UP BUYING NEW TIRES COSTING ME A GRAND TOTAL OF ALMOST $1,000. I INSISTED ON THE OLD TIRES WHICH THE TIRE CENTER DIDN'T WANT TO READILY GIVE BACK TO ME. UPON INSPECTION, THERE WAS NEITHER GASH NOR TREAD WEAR AS THEY HAD LESS THAN 20,000 MILES. AT ALL THREE MICHELIN DEALERS, THEY REFUSED TO COVER THEM UNDER WARRANTY. IT SEEMS OBVIOUS THAT THESE TIRES WERE DEFECTIVE AND DANGEROUS FROM DAY ONE. I AM WRITING TO YOU SO THAT THIS MAY PREVENT AN ACCIDENT OR DEATH SINCE I AM SO LUCKY TO HAVE "CAUGHT" THE PROBLEM BEFORE ANYTHING SERIOUS HAPPENED. MICHELIN TIRES NEED TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE! *TR